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Friday, March 18, 2011

A week has passed from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan on March 11.The terrible tragedy which has shaken and taken away so many lives seems to have repercussions also at an astronomical level. According to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (California), the earthquake powerful temblor has accelerated Earth's spin and shortened the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds. Gross also stated that the earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters):

"This shift in the position of the figure axis will cause the Earth to wobble a bit differently as it rotates, but will not cause a shift of the Earth's axis in space – only external forces like the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon, and planets can do that"

More information can be found in the JPL NASA siteThat the axis mundi is shifting is sadly becoming not only metaphorical but also literal. Human chaos of this decade part of a cosmic chaos?